Right now the producers and writers are coming together to formulate the overall big picture storyline for Season 5. With Clyde Phillips, executive producer and showrunner since Season 1, leaving the show to spend quality time for his family, the spotlight is even brighter on the show's direction, especially given the place the Season 4 left off. Season 4, unlike previous seasons, left us with a mountain of loose ends. What will the cops think when they see that Rita was killed by Trinity? Will they ever discover video of Trinity talking to Dexter in the police station? Will Jonah Mitchell ever wonder why Kyle Butler was working with Miami Metro? With so many lingering questions, it was a relief to find out that there will be no jump ahead. We will not see Dexter months down the line. Season 5 will pick up right where 4 left off.

Michael C. Hall.

"What we can say is that I think the death of Rita is something that we feel is so awesome that it needs to be honored," said Colleton. "And the process by which Dexter deals with it will allow the audience their own catharsis so we're not going to jump ahead. We're going to actually process it."

Have the writers started thinking about a big villain for next season? Well, yes they have. But that's about all they could say about it. That they've only started talking about it. One thing that they did dismiss outright however was the fan-spiracy going around that Rita's death was all a dream. It is very real and it will have very real ramifications.

But what about Rita coming back next season? Dexter sees Harry all the time, as a nagging figment? Could Rita return? "I don't see it happening. I don't see how," actress Julie Benz told us. "A lot of people have thought that she could return as a ghost like Harry, but I don't really see how that could work because in my opinion Harry's more of the internal part of Dexter, because Harry knew his Dark Passenger and gave him his code. And Rita was more of a cover. She was more of the external and I just don't see how her voice would play in his subconscious. But you know if they came up with a way to do it, yeah I'd be there in a heartbeat."

There are even a few rumbles out there that John Lithgow's Trinity Killer might return in some form or another. This rumor was politely dismissed by Colleton. "Trinity only served Dexter's journey in the season," she admitted. "And as interesting a character, and as dimensionalized as our writers made him, he only served the purpose to take Dexter to the place we wanted for that season."